Iron supporting linkage



July 7, 1953 E. E. FOSTER IRON SUPPORTING LINKAGE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledMarch- 22, 1951 ATTORNEX j 7 y 3 E. E. FOSTER 2,644,255

IRON SUPPORTING LINKAGE Filed March 22, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR.

July 7, 1953 E. E. FOSTER 2,644,255

. IRON SUPPORTING LINKAGE Filed March 22, 19 51 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 I i I ll n I N VEN TOR.

A TTOHNEX Patented July 7, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT oFF1c1:

2,644,255 IRON SUPPORTING LINKAGE Edwin E. Foster, Austin, Tex.,assignor to Majik- Ironers, Inc., Austin, Tex., a corporation of TexasApplication March 22, 1951, Serial No. 217,026

17 Claims.

desirable to remove the effect of the spring which acts to raise theiron when the iron is lowered onto the board during ironing. It is oneof the objects of the present invention to provide a support which isrelatively simple toconstruct and which functions efiectively to removethe raising force on the iron when the iron is lowered to workingposition.

Another object is to provide a support in which the raising spring canbe made effective or ineffective by a latch easily controlled by theoperator.

. According to one feature, the latch is controlled by an operatinglever lying adjacent to and preferably above the iron handle for easilyand naturally controlling. of the latch by an operator. Another objectis to provide a support in which the raising efiect of the spring isbalanced by a second spring when the iron is lowered to ironing positionand in which the second spring can be made effective or ineffective by alatch.

Still another object is to provide a support in which the efiect of theraising spring decreases as the iron is lowered to its normal workingposition and increases when the iron moves to an extreme loweredposition as, for example, when it drops below the board.

A further object is to provide a support in which a lever :is employedto connect the supporting linkage to a supporting element and the leveris guided so as to maintain it in proper vertical position at all times.I

The above and other objects and features of the invention will be morereadily apparent from the following description when read in connec-Figure 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 showing the iron in loweredworking position;

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 4 ofan alternative construction;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 showing the iron lowered to itsnormal working position;

and

Figure 9 is a'partial'section showing'the iron lowered to an extremeposition.

As'shown in Figure 1, a flat-iron II) which may be of more'or lessconventional construction is adapted to be supported for movement aboveand parallel to an ironing board and to be lowered against material onthe board for ironingwhen desired. The iron is normally carried by apair of pivotally interconnected levers including a relatively longlever-I2 pivoted ona horizontal axis at its lower end on a vertical rodI2 for rotating movement about a verticalaxis and =for swinging.movement about the horizontal axis. A short lever I3 is pivoted to theupper end of the lever I2 and terminates at its lower end in a jointindicated at I I for connection to the iron supportinglinkage. Thelevers I2 and I3-may be hollow, as indicated in Figures 2 and 3, and

the electric? cord for supplying current to the iron,

may pass therethrough as indicated at-I4'; .In addition, the .leversmaybe interconnected by mechanism as more particularly described. andclaimed in my icopending application Serial No. 669,318, filed May 13,1946 and now abandoned, so that as the levers pivot between the full anddotted line positions illustrated, the joint I4 will be constrained tomove in a plane parallel to the ironingboard II. v

The iron is connected to the joint I4 through a supporting linkage'whichforms the. subject matter of the present invention. As illustrated inFigures 1-6, the linkage comprises a lower hollow arm I5 formed at itslower end for rigid connection to the iron. 3 As best seen in Figures4-6, the'hollow arm I5 terminates at its lower end in a flange which issecured by a screw I6 to the iron body. The arm I5 forms the forwardpart of the iron handle as shown at I! which is secured rigidly to theiron body and is spaced above it to be grasped conventionally by theoperator. The handle may be formed of any desired material such as amolded plastic and. is preferably hollow with its topopen as shown inFigures free end the arm I9 carries a pivoted mounting lever 2|terminating in a mounting ball 22 which is engaged in the joint memberI4 for universal and rotating movement. In this way the iron can beturned or swung to any desired position during use.

The linkage is normally held in the position shown in Figure 4 to raisethe iron above the level of the board, as shown in dotted lines inFigure l, by means of a spring 23. As shown, the spring 23 is a tensionspring anchored at one end to pivot pin 24 for the lever 2I and at itsopposite end to a pin 25 rigidly secured in the arm I5. The pin 25 liesbelow the pivot I8 and i preferably slightly farther from thepin 24 thanis the pivot I8. With this construction, when the linkage isstraightened to move the iron toward the board, to its working position,the line of the spring moves toward the pivot I8 to shorten theeffective moment arm of the spring so that the spring effect tending toraise the iron will be decreased, notwithstanding the increase intension of the spring 23. Thus,.less force is required to hold the ironin its lowered working position than to move it initially from itsraised position above the board.

In order to cancel completely or substantially .completelythe elevatingeffect of the spring 23,

a second spring is provided to oppose'the elevating spring and whichbecomes efiective when the iron is lowered. As shown in Figures k6, acompression spring of the type which will develop a substantiallyconstant spring force regardless of its degree of compression isemployed. This spring is in the form .an elongated coil spring 26 havingnormally contacting adjacent turns and having .end portions 2! offsetfrom its axis so that when the spring is compressed it will bow outwardas indicated in Figure 6. I have found that a spring of this type willdevelop a substantially constant degree of 'force regardless of itsdegree of compression so that a very desirable efiec't for use inthecompression mechanism is produced.

The upper end portion 2'! of the spring 26 is pivoted to an extension onthe upper arm I9 which normally lies substantially in line with thepivot I8 and the pin 25, as shown in Figure 4. At its lower end, thespring is pivoted to a movable abutment 28 which is in the form of aplate pivoted at '29 to the arm I5. When the iron is in its raisedposition as shown in Figure v4, the spring 26 is relaxed and theabutment member will normally lie in the position illustrated. However,when the iron is moved downward, the spring 26 will be compressed andwill tend to swing the abutment ZBcounter-clockwise about its pivot 29.V I

In order to hold the abutment plate against swinging to make the spring26 efiective, latch means are provided engaging the abutment 28.

As shown, the latch means comprises a latch lever 3I pivoted at 32 tothe arm I and having an elongated operating handle 33 rigidly securedthereto and lying in the hollow handle IT. The latch operating handle 33projects above the iron handle I! where it can easily be engaged by anoperators hand and will be held down by the operators hand during normalgripping of the iron handle. Preferably the end of the lever 3| is at aslight angle and engages the pin 34 on the abutment "plate 28 so thatcompression of the spring 26 tends to raise the latch handle 33. Theforce acting on the latch handle can, however, be made very small sothat the efiort required to hold the latch handle down can be such thatit is unnoticeable to the opeartor.

In normal use of the iron, the iron will be held above the board at thelevel shown in dotted lines in Figure 1, with the supporting linkageoccupying the position shown in Figure 4. At this time, the sprin 26 isineffective and the spring 23 will hold the linkage in its angularposition with the iron elevated. To use the iron the operator grasps thehandle I? thereby automatically engaging the latch handle 33 to hold itin its lowered position and presses the iron toward the board.

During this operation, the linkage will move to the position shown inFigure 6 and during the latter part of this movement the spring 26 willbe compressed and will exert a turning force on the arm l9 opposing theforce on the spring 23. By proper design of the springs, these twoforces can be made to balance each other almost exactly and it will benoted that this balance is maintained over a relatively widerange ofvertical movement of the iron, due to the fact that the compressiveforce of the spring 26 is substantially the same regardless of itsdegree of compression. At this time, the iron-can be moved over onmaterial on the board I I in a normal manner to effect an ironingoperation. I

When the operator releases the, iron handlethe latch handle 33 willswing upward and the latch lever 3| will move away from the pin 34,allowing the abutment 28 to swing counter-clockwise. This will relievethe compressive force'o'f'the spring 26..

leaving the spring 23 effective to :raise the iron above the board. Eventhough the effective raising force of the spring 23 is ata minimum whenthe iron is lowered, it is .still sufiicient to lift the weight of theiron. As the iron starts to move upward, the spring 23 becomes more andmore efiective to insure raising of the iron to the desired elevatedposition. Thus whenever the operator releases the iron handle, the latchwill be released to make the elevating spring once more effective sothat the iron will'be raisedp This completely eliminates any possibilityof theriron being accidentally left on material on the board to scorchor otherwise damage .it.

Figures 7-9 illustrate an alternative construction inwhich partscorresponding to like part in Figures 1-6 are indicated by the samereference numerals plus 100. a In this construction, the spring I23 isanchored at one end to the cross pin I25 on the arm II5 and isadjustably connected .at its opposite end to an adjusting screw I35which extends through the end of the arm I I9. The adjusting screwthreads into a block I36 in the adjacent end of the spring so thatbyturning the screw to thread it more or less into the block, thetension of the spring I23 can easily be adjusted to the desired value.

'The balancing spring, as illustrated in these figures, comprisesacompression spring device including a pair of levers I31 and I38pivoted to each other and to the arm II5 by a pin I39. An elongated coiltype spring I4! is wound about the pivot and has its arms respectivelyengagingthe levers I31 and I 38 tending to straighten them. The coilspring I4I may be precompressed to any desired extent and a stop pin I42 is preferably provided on the lever I3! to engage the lever I38 andlimit straightening movement of the levers in response to the spring.

The lever I-3'I carries a pin I43 at its free end which engages theupper end of the latch lever I3I. The upper end of the latch lever isshaped as explained in Figures 1-6 to provide relatively light cammingaction tending to lift the latch handle I33 and disengage the latch.

The free end of the lever I38 carries a roller I44 which engages the camplate I45 secured to the upper arm II9. that when the iron is in or nearits lowered working position the turning effect of the compensatingspring device on the upper arm II9 will be substantially constantthrough a relatively wide range of movement.

-As'shoWn in Figure 7, when the iron is in its raised position, thelever I38 is in engagement with the pin I42 so that the compensatingspring device exerts no turning effect on the upper arm. As the arms arestraightened during lowering of the iron, the spring device will becompressed by the cam and the spring I23 will be tensioned and will movetoward the pivot II8 so that its efiective force tends to decrease.After the roller I44 has moved over a corner I46 on the cam, it

The cam plate is so shaped will engage the end'cam surface, as shown inFigure 8, and will exert on the arm I I9 a turning force opposing thespring I23. At this time, the raising force of the spring I23 iseffectively cancelled so that the iron will remain on the work and willrest thereon with its full weight as long as the latch handle I33 isheld down.

On releasing the latch handle I33 the latch lever I3I will swing awayfrom the pin I43 allowing the compensating spring device to turnclockwise, thereby to remove its compensating force. At this time, thespring I23 will be efiective to raise the iron.

In the event the iron should be lowered to an extreme position, as, forexample, if it should drop from the edge of the board, the spring I23would come so close to the pivot I I8 that it might not have sufficientforce to raise the iron. To prevent this possibility, a pin M1 issecured in the lower arm II5 in a position to engage the the spring I23as indicated in Figure 9 so thatthe lateral deflecting force of thespring will be added to its tension effect to raise the iron. At thesame time the cam I45 is so shaped that even though the latch handle I33is held downward, the roller I44 will move out of engagement with thecam to eliminate the eiTect of the compensating spring device. Thussufficient force will be provided through the tension and lateralbending effect of the spring I23 to raise the iron even from an extremeposition.

Figures '79 illustrate another desirable feature which can be appliedequally well to the construction of Figure 1. It is desirable in usingthe iron to maintain the supporting lever I2I substantially vertical atall times so that the iron will be properly balanced and can be turnedduring use.

. To maintain the lever properly vertical under all conditions, it ispivoted intermediate its ends on the pin I24 and has its lower endconnected by a link I43 to the pin I25 in the vertical arm H5. Thedistance between the pivot I24 and the lower end of the link is the sameas the distance between pivot II8 and pin I25, so that in effect aparallelogram linkage is provided to hold the lever I25 verticalregardless of the relative angular positions of the arms. In this way,the iron is maintained properly balanced at all times and still obtainsthe necessary freedom of movement through the joint member I22.

, While two embodiments of the invention have the second spring to makeit effective or inefi'ec-' been'shown and described in detail, it willbe I understood that they are illustrative onlyand are not intended tobee definition of the scope of the invention, referencebeing had 'forthis purpose to the appended claims. 1

What is claimed is:.

=1. Asupport for an iron comprising a pair of arm members pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the members being formed at its otherend for connection to an iron, means'at the other end of the othermember for connection to a support to support the members and the ironabove an ironing board, a spring connected to the members urging them ina direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron andmeans acting on the members to make the spring ineifective When themembers are moved in a direction to lower the iron and a releasablelatch carried by one of the members controlling the last named means.

2. A support for an'iron comprising a pair of arm members pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the members being formed at its otherend for connectionto an iron, means at the other end of the other memberfor connection to a support to support the members and the iron above anironing board, a spring connected to .the members urgingthem in adirection about their pivotal interconnection'to raise the iron, asecond spring acting on the members in opposition to the first namedspring, and a releasable latch carried by one of the members controllingtive.

3. A support for an iron comprising an iron having a handle, a first armrigidly secured to the iron and projecting upward therefrom, a secondarm pivoted to the upper end of the first arm, means at the free end ofthe second arm for connection to a support, a spring connecting the armsand urging the second arm toward a horizontal position to raise theiron, means acting on the arms to make the spring inefiective, a latchcarried by one of the arms to make the last named means effective orinefiective and an operating lever for the latch pivotally connected tothe first arm and lying adjacent to the handle of the iron.

4. A support for an iron comprising an iron having a handle, a'first armrigidly secured to the iron and projecting upward therefrom, a

the latch pivotally connected to the first arm and lying adjacent to thehandle of the iron.

5. A support for an iron comprising a pair of arm members pivotallyinterconnected at oneend, one of the members being formed at'its otherend for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the othermember for connection to a support to support the members and the ironabove an ironing boardja spring connected to the members urging them ina direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron, acompression spring device connected atone endlto one of the members toact in 0pposition to thefirst named spring, a movable 1 abutment on theother of the members engagin the other endof the compression springdevice, anda releasable latch carried by the other of the members andengageable with, the movable abutment to hold the movable abutment'inoperative position.

6. A support for an. iron comprising a pair of arm members pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the members being formed at its otherend for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the othermember for connection to a support to support the members and, the ironabove an ironing board, a spring connected to the members urging them ina direction about their pivotal interconnection, to raise the iron, anelongated coil spring having end portions offset from' its axis toprovide a substantially constant spring force regardless of the degreeof compression thereof, one of the end portions being connected to oneof the arm members to oppose the first named spring, a movable abutmenton the other arm member engaging the other end portion, and a releasablelatch on the other arm member to hold the movable abutment in operativeposition.

7. A support for an iron having a handle, comprising a first arm rigidlysecured to the iron and projecting upward therefrom, a second armpivoted to the upper end of the first arm, means at the free end of thesecond arm for connection to a support, a spring connecting the arms andurging the second arm toward a horizontal position to raise the iron, anelongated coil spring having end portions offset from its axis toprovide. av substantially constant spring force regardless of. thedegree of compression thereof, one of the end portions being connectedto the second arm to act thereon in opposition to the first namedspring, a movable abutment, on.the first arm engaging the other endportion, a latch on the first arm to hold the abutment in operativeposition, and an operating lever for the latch lying adjacent to thehandle of the iron.

8. A support for an iron comprising a pair of arm members pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the members being formed at its otherend for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the othermember for connection to a support to support the members and the ironabove an ironing board, a spring connected to the members urging them ina direction about their pivotal interconnection to raise the iron, aspring device resilient in compression mounted on one of the armmembers, a releasable latch on said one of the arm members providing anabutment for one end of .the spring device and a cam on the other armmember engaging the other end of the spring device and shaped to producea substantially constant force onthe members when they are moved in adirection. to lower the iron opposing the first named spring.

9. A support for an iron having a handle, comprising a first arm rigidlysecured to the iron and projecting upward therefrom, a second armpivoted to the upper end of the first arm, means at the free end of thesecond arm for connection to a support, a spring connecting the arms andurging the second arm toward a horizontal position to'raise the iron, aspring device resilient in: compression, mounted on the first arm, areleasable latch on the first arm engaging one end of the spring deviceand providing an abutment therefor, an operating lever for the latchlying adjacent to the handle of the iron, and a cam 10. A support for aniron comprising a pair of arms pivotally interconnected at one end,;oneof the arms being formed at its other end; for connection to aniron,.means at, the'other end of the other arm for connection to asupport to support the arms and iron above an ironing board, a springconnected to spaced points on.

the armsv respectively lying in a line at one side of the pivotconnection between the arms and urging the arms to an angular positionto raise the iron, the, line between said points approaching the pivotwhen the arms are straightened to lower the iron thereby to decrease theeffectiveness of the spring and means carried by and acting on. the armsand including a latch to make the spring inefiective when the arms arestraightened to lower the iron.

11. "A support for. an iron comprising a pair of arms pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the arms being formed at'its other endfor connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other arm forconnection to a support to support the arms and iron above; an ironingboard, a sprin connected to spaced points on the arms respectively lyingin a line at one side of the pivot connection between the arms andurging the arms to an angular position to raise the iron, the linebetween said points approaching the pivot when.

the arms are straightened to lower the iron thereby to decrease theeffectiveness of the spring, a second spring 'operatively connected tothe arms to oppose the first spring with a substantially constant forcewhen the arms are straightened to lower the iron, and a latch. carriedby one of the arms and engaging the second spring to makethe secondspring efiective and releasable to make the second spring ineffective.

12. A support for an iron comprising a pair of arms pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the arms being formed at its other endfor connection to an iron, means, at the other end of the other arm forconnection to a support to support the arms and iron above an ironingboard, a spring connected to spaced points on the arms respectivelylying in a line at one side, of the pivot connection between the armsand urging the arms to an angular position to raise the iron, the linebetween said points approachin the pivot when the arms are straightenedto lower the iron thereby to decrease the effectiveness of the spring,an elongated coil spring having its end portions offset from its axis, areleasable latch on one of the arms forming an abutment for one endportion of the spring, and the other end portion being connected to theother of the arms to exert a substantially constant force thereonopposing'the first named springwhen the arms are straightened to lowerthe iron.

13- A support for an iron comprising a pair of armspivotally-interconnected at one end, one of the arms bein formed at itsother end for connection to an iron, means at the other end of the otherarm for connection to a support to support the arms and iron above anironing board, a spring connected to spaced points on the armsrespectively lying in a line at one side of the pivot connection betweenthe arms and urging the arms to an angular position to raise the iron,the line between said points approaching the pivot when the arms arestraightened to lower the iron 9 thereby to decrease the efiectivenessof the spring, a spring device resilient in compression mounted on oneof the arms, a releasable latch on said one of the arms forming anabutment for one end of the spring device, and a cam on the other armengaging the other end of the spring device and shaped to produce asubstantially constant force on the arms opposing the first named springwhen the arms are straightened to lower the iron.

14. A support for an iron comprising a pair of arms pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the arms being formed at its other endfor connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other arm forconnection to a support to support the arms and iron above an ironingboard, a spring connected to spaced points on the arms respectivelylying in a line at one side of the pivot connection between the arms andurging the arms to an angular position to raise the iron, the linebetween said points approaching the pivot when the arms are straightenedto lower the iron there by to decrease the effectiveness of the spring,and a part on one of the arms to engage the spring and deflect itlaterally from a line between the points when the arms are straightenedto lower the iron to an extreme lowered position thereby to increase theeffectiveness of the spring.

15. A support for an iron comprising a pair of arms pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the arms being formed at its other endfor connection to an iron, means at the other end of the other arm forconnection to a support to support the arms and iron above an ironingboard, a spring connected to spaced points on the arms respectivelylying in a line at one side of the pivot connection between the arms andurging the arms to an angular position to raise the iron, the linebetween said points approaching the pivot when the arms are straightenedto lower the iron thereby to decrease the efiectiveness of the spring, apart on one of the arms to engage the spring and deflect it laterallyfrom a line 'between the points when the arms are straightened to lowerthe iron to an extremelowered position thereby to increase theeffectiveness of the spring, and means including a latch carried by andacting on the arms to make the sprin effective or ineiTective.

16. A support for an iron comprising a pair of arms pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one

' pivot connection between the arms and urging of the arms being formedat its other end for connection to an iron, means at the other end ofthe other arm for connection to a support to support the arms and ironabove an ironing board, a spring connected to spaced points on the armsrespectively lying in a line at one side of the the arms to an angularposition to raise the iron, the line between said points approaching thepivot when the arms, are straightened to lower the iron'there-by todecrease the effectiveness of the spring, a part on one of the arms toengage the spring and deflect it laterally from a line between thepoints when the arms are straightened to lower the iron to an extremelowered position thereby to increase the efiectiveness of the spring, asecond spring operatively connected to the arms to oppose the firstnamed spring when the arms are straightened to lower the iron, and areleasable latch carried. by one of the arms and connected to the secondspringto make it effective or inefiective.

1'7. A support for an iron comprising a pair of arms pivotallyinterconnected at one end, one of the arms being formd at its other endfor connection to an iron, a spring connected to the arms urgin them toan angular position to raise the iron, the arms being pivotally movabletoward a straightened position to lower the iron, a mounting leverpivoted on a horizontal axis to the other end of the other arm andprojecting vertically above the other arm for connection to a support,and a link connecting the lower end of the lever to said one of the armsand lying paralle1 to a line between said axis and the pivotalinterconnection between the arms to hold the lever in a substantiallyvertical position regardless of the angle of the arms.

EDWIN E. FOSTER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 2,231,896 Foster Feb. 18, 1941 2,345,251 Foster Mar. 28, 19442,369,732 Foster Feb. 20, 1945 2,555,639 Foster June 5, 1951

